1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of a hard-disk-drive (hereinafter “HDD”) case (hereinafter “HDD case”) used for storing and protecting a hard-disk drive, and more particularly relates to an HDD case that provides electricity and a direct connection for a signal connector and that is superior in regard to vibration absorption, sound insulation, heat radiation, airtightness, and waterproofing.
2. Description of the Related Art
An HDD is generally provided with a drive part that rotates at high speed, and therefore an HDD requires measures against the heat and vibration associated with high-speed rotation.                Accordingly, it is advantageous for the HDD case to be airtight by using soundproofing materials (or sound-absorbing materials) so as to prevent the sounds caused by the rotation or vibration of the drive from escaping from the case.        Also, the airtightness of an HDD case is emphasized because the HDD must be protected from dust due to the precise conditions required for the drive mechanism.        However, providing airtightness for a case generally causes concerns about performance stability and so on of the HDD, because airtightness hinders the natural convection of air and heat, with the result that heat is trapped in a case that does not allow the HDD to dissipate heat thoroughly.        The inventor-applicant of the present invention has proposed a HDD-case structure that is superior in regard to vibration absorption, sound insulation, and heat radiation, and that therefore deals with the above-mentioned problems (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).        
The HDD case 50 of Patent Document 1 is a case made from a metal such as an aluminum alloy, with the case's inner surface being covered by a mat made from Sorbothane (a brand-name material that is high in thermal conductivity and vibration-absorption capability), a sponge-like sound-absorbing material, a heat sink, or the like.
The procedure for housing an HDD in such an HDD case is as follows:                First, the case body's cover is disassembled by loosening the screws that fasten the cover to the case body.        Next, the HDD is fitted inside the case body where the sound-absorbing materials and the heat sinks that are on Sorbothane mats are mounted on the inner surfaces of both the HDD's cover and the HDD case;        Then, a feeder cable and a signal cable that are interface cables are mounted on the connector of the HDD and are pulled out through an opening in a wall of the case.        Last, the cover is attached.        
As described above, the HDD case according to Patent Document 1, like a conventional HDD case, also requires interface cables (a feeder cable and a signal cable) and therefore cable connections are indispensable because the HDD's connector is located inside the HDD case.                Accordingly, when a feeding connector and a signal connector are provided on the backplane (i.e., motherboard) so as to configure a disk array (RAID), it is not possible to utilize a connector-to-connector connection that directly connects connectors with each other without using cables.        The inventor-applicant of the present invention has recently proposed an HDD case that can accommodate a connector-to-connector connection, and that therefore eliminates the above-mentioned problems (for example, Patent Document 2).            Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-285154    Patent Document 2: Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3119362
However, even in the HDD cases of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the seal between the case body and the HDD cover and the like is not sufficient, and waterproofness is not taken into consideration. Therefore, those HDD cases have such weaknesses as the HDD being damaged by the intrusion of moisture into the case body by, for example, water sprayed in firefighting.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention intends to provide an HDD case that allows direct connection of an interface connector, maintains airtightness, absorbs rattling noises, effectively radiates heat, and is superior in waterproofness.